"Paste key" option failing.

I am trying to use the "Paste key" option to verify the authenticity of the server that I am connecting to (my SiteGround server).



When I copy my private key onto the clipboard, then click on "Paste key", I get the following error message:



I just had SiteGround support double check what I was doing and they couldn't see any obvious mistakes on my end.

Any ideas why this is failing?

You are confirming server's public key.
That has nothing to do with your private key.
See https://winscp.net/eng/docs/ssh_keys
And https://winscp.net/eng/docs/faq_hostkey

I have a lot to learn about public-key cryptography!

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction Martin. 👍🏻

Daniel

I talked to SiteGround, and it seems that many of their support staff are not sure what a host key fingerprint is. As far as I can tell, they do not have access to that information and are unable to provide it to their customers.

If I want to use the "Paste key" option to verify the server I am connecting to, would I have to generate my own key pairs using PuTTY, or something like that?

I believe the the second article linked in my previous post covers all options you have.
Particularly this section:
https://winscp.net/eng/docs/faq_hostkey#obtaining

You cannot generate the host key.
As the first article says:

A host [private] key is generated when the SSH server is set up.

I guess I won't be able to use the "Paste key" option to verify the server, as the hosting company don't provide they host key fingerprint. I just clicked "Yes" and connected normally.